James Thompson '66 Steps Down as Wake Forest Dean
July 9, 2001
July 9, 2001, Greencastle, Ind. - James N. Thompson, M.D., a 1966 graduate of DePauw University who has spent the past seven years as dean of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and a university vice president, has resigned will return to full-time teaching and clinical practice. Dr. Thompson will remain on the medical school faculty as professor of otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat).
The 57 year old Thompson joined the Wake Forest faculty in 1979, and became dean in 1994. "These seven years have been among the most rewarding in my life," he told Wake Forest's Faculty Executive Council. During Thompson's tenure, the school's curriculum was completely revised, its use of information technology as part of the curriculum has become a model for medical schools across the country, and Wake Forest has hosted two nationwide symposia on academic computing.
Richard H. Dean, M.D., Wake Forest's senior vice president for health affairs, said Dr. Thompson's "successful leadership in education reform has brought great credit and recognition to Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Further," Dean continued, "his commitment to living a professional life in a spiritual way is an inspiration to those who work with him."
After graduating from DePauw, Thompson received his M.D. degree from Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1971. Dr. Thompson took his residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, and a fellowship in otolaryngology surgery at the University of California at Irvine. He co-authored a Journal of the American Medical Association commentary that brought national attention to a decline in the number of physicians engaged in clinical research, which the authors argued argued, could stall advances in medicine. Under Thompson's leadership, Wake Forest partnered with the AMA and the Association of American Medical Colleges to host the first National Summit on Clinical Research.